WA space station to open
Herald Sun

THE European Space Agency will formally open its first deep space ground station in Western Australia tomorrow, three years after construction first began. The ESA station and its antenna, which supports a 100-tonne, 35-metre dish at New Norcia, 134km north of Perth, will become part of the agency’s global tracking station network. The 40-metre high, 630-tonne antenna will be used to communicate with the ESA’s first mission to Mars this year.